self,
and I am not going to pay another man's debt. Let the duke settle with
Jacques; I am going to bed. What noise is that? The duchess is getting
up. What does she want? I must listen. (He goes out, leaving the door
slightly ajar.)

SCENE SEVENTH.

The Duchesse de Montsorel (alone)
Where can I hide the certificate of my son's birth? (She reads)
"Valencia. . . . July, 1793." An unlucky town for me! Fernand was
actually born seven months after my marriage, by one of those
fatalities that give ground for shameful accusations! I shall ask my
aunt to carry the certificate in her pocket, until I can deposit it in
some place of safety. The duke would ransack my rooms for it, and the
whole police are at his service. Government refuses nothing to a man
high in favor. If Joseph saw me going to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey's
apartments at this hour, the whole house would hear of it. Ah--I am
alone in the world, alone with all against me, a prisoner in my own
house!

SCENE EIGHTH.
The Duchesse de Montsorel and Mademoiselle de Vaudrey.

The Duchess
I see that you find it is impossible to sleep as I do.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey
Louise, my child, I only rose to rid you of a dream, the awakening
from which will be deplorable. I consider it my duty to distract you
from your insane fancies. The more I think of what you told me the
more is my sympathy aroused. But I am compelled to tell you the truth,
cruel as it is; beyond doubt the duke has placed Fernand in some
compromising situation, so as to make it impossible for him to
retrieve his position in the world to which you belong. The young man
you saw cannot be your son.

The Duchess
Ah, you never knew Fernand! But I knew him, and in whatever place he
is, his life has an influence on mine. I have seen him a thousand
times--

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey
In your dreams!

The Duchess
Fernand has the blood of the Montsorels and the Vaudreys in his veins.
The place to which he was born he is able to take; everything gives
way before him wherever he appears. If he became a soldier, he is
to-day a colonel. My son is proud, he is handsome, people like him! I
am sure he is beloved. Do not contradict me, dear aunt; Fernand still
lives; if not, then the duke has broken faith, and I know he values
too highly the virtues of his race to disgrace them.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey
But are not honor and a husband's vengeance dearer to him than his
faith as a gentleman?

The Duchess
Ah! Y